Island



(No Model.)

E. LAFLOB. TOP NULL PON SPINNING MACHINES.

PatentedMay 21, 1889.

H w N E V N FIEN7.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDNARD LAFLOE, OF IVILLIMANTIC, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO TIIEODORE I3. STOVELI., OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

TOP ROLL FOR SPINNING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,537', dated May 21, 1889.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD LAFLOE, of lVillimantic, in the county of IVindhain, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Top Rolls for SpinningMachines; and I declare the following to be a specification thereof, reference being' had to the accompanying drawings.

Like letters indicate like parts.

Figure l is a side elevation of my invention, showing the rolls in central longitudinal section and in working position on the same horizontal plane. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the rolls in working position on different horizontal planes. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 4f is a side elevation of the shaft. Fig. 5 is a central longitudinal section of the outer shell. Fig. is a central longitudinal section of the inner shell. Fig. 7 is an end view of my improved roll mounted in the cap-bar.

My invention relates to the top rolls which are used in drawing-frames, spinning-frames, speeders, and mules in the various processes of drawing sliver and roving in the manufacture of cotton yarn for weaving and other purposes; and it consists of ashaft so mounted as to be capable of vertical motion, but not of revolution, a pair of tubular shells mounted upon said shaft and capable of a limited vertical oscillation thereon by means of their pivot-connection with the shaft, and a pair of tubular shells mounted and rotatable upon said oscillating shells, respectively, and covered with leather, as in the usual kind of top rolls.

In the drawings, A represents the shaft. It is preferably turned in a lathe into the shape shown in Fig. et. Its ends are cut with two vertical parallel plane faces, a. (See Figs. 4 and 7.) Shoulders b b c c', integral with the shaft A, are formed with a bevel toward the rolls. (See Figs. l, 2, and 3.) The central part or saddle-bearing, d, may be cylindrical. The portions of the shaft between the shoulders b c b c,respectively, are shown at e. Each of said portions c has its largest diameter at the center thereof and tapers regularly from said center toward the shoulders on each side, so that the surface of said portions c, from the center toward the shoulder on each side, is conical. Said portions e are horizontally and transversely bored at their centers.

A tubular shell, B, preferably metallic, (shown separately in Fig. (5,) has an external circumferential shoulder, f, at one end and a transverse central bore, g, with a proper countersink. (See Fig. 5.) A pair of these shells I3 are mounted on the portions e of the shaft A, and are there secured by the pins 7L. The pin 7L passes through said transverse bores of the shaft and shell on each side.

As the shell l is tubular and the portion e of the shaft at the center fits into the shell li, but tapers conically toward the shoulders on each side, it is evident that the shell B is capable of a vertical rocking motion or oscillation upon the pivot 7L to a limited degree, as seen by a comparison of the several rolls shown in Figs. l and 2. The ends of these shells B extend to the bevel of the shoulders b b c c', respectively.

The outer shell, C, preferably metallic, is shown separately in Fig. 5 in central longitudinal section. It is tubular and has an interior annular recess, 7.', which forms a shoulder, as seen in said figure. The shells C are mounted longitudinally upon the shells I3, respectively, and are capable of free revolution thereon. lVhe'n thus mounted, the shoulder fof the shell I3 enters the annular recess 7.: of the shell C. The shells C are covered in the usual manner by the layers of cloth, m, and leather, n..

The whole device (shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3) is mounted at each end in a slotted capbar, D, (see Fig. 7,) and operates in combination with the lower fluted steel roll in the usual manner to draw the sliver or roving.

Top rolls heretofore used have been made with a cylindrical arbor or shaft, upon which the rolls are formed usually integral therewith and covered with an inner layer of cloth and an outer layer of leather. Such rolls have a iixed axis of revolution. They always revolve together and in the sanne plane. They are incapable of independent revolution. The saddle, resting on the central bearing, being held in constant. .forcible IOO ' of cotton, and when this thickness occurs the roll is slightly elevated on one side to allow the thicker material to pass through. The axial line of the rolls is thus changed from a horizontal to an angular direction. When the roll on one side is thus raised, the companion roll on the other side is canted in the same direction, and the outer edge of the companion roll bears more heavily on the outer edge of the sliver or roving beneath than the inner end of said roll does, so that the cotton fibers are drawn unevenly and presently bunch up and form what is known as cut yarn. All such yarn is taken off as waste. At the saine time the leather at the outer end of the roll which is thus depressed is apt to be worn off or cut angularly. It is thus rendered unequal in diameter and cannot afterward draw evenly and must soon be removed for repair; hence the whole pair of rolls is injured and useless until newly covered. The injury of either roll destroys the usefulness of the other.

My improved rolls are intended to avoid all these difficulties and objections. In my device the shaft A is capable of vertical motion only. It cannot revolve because the square plane facesa of its ends, which fit in the vertical slots of the cap-bars D, prevent revolution. There is therefore no frictional wearing of either the shaft or of the slot in the cap-bar, and the axial vertical plane of the top rolls and under rolls is maintained without change. The saddle, indeed, bears heavily down on the center of the shaft, as before; but as the shaft does not revolve there is no friction at that point,but only pressure. My rolls are not confined to the same axial line of revolution, but revolve wholly independently of each other. They are always in the same vertical plane, because limited thereto by the pins h, which connect the shaft and inner shells, B; but they revolve in any horizontal or angular plane required, because of the vertical oscillation of the shells B upon their pins, respectively., Hence, if the sliver or roving on one side is thicker or coarser than on the other, the shaft, A will be elevated at that end, as illustrated in Fig. v2; but the roll on that side will revolve in a higher horizontal plane without tilting the companion roll or in any manner affecting the rotation of the companion roll. The rolls thus have a wholly independent revolution and autoinatically take whatever vertical elevation do not bunch up nor form any cut yarn;v

that the top rolls can conform to irregularities of the surface of the lower rolls without detriment to the work done, and it has been demonstrated that the yarn made on machines having my improved top rolls is more uniform, has a much greater strength, and sustains a much greater tension than usual.

As my rolls thus act independently of each other, they are more easilyand cheaply repaired. One roll maybe re-covered while its companion is not, and if the two rolls are not covered in equal thicknesses (which is a frequent occurrence) they are not injuriously affected, but work independently and in conformity with their respective conditions. The shoulders on the shaft A serve to protect the ends of the shells from Contact with the capbars and saddle.

It is obvious that the shaft may be made square instead of round in cross-section, and that the shell B may have a square or angular bore instead of being tubular. -In ease both the shaft A and the shells B are thus made the pin-connection may be dispensed with.

' I claim as a novel and useful invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The improved top roll herein described, having a shaft which is mounted in bearings, so as to be capable of vertical movement therein, but incapable of rotation, the shells B, pivotally mounted on said shaft and capable of limited vertical oscillation, and the rotatable shells C, mounted on the oscillating shells B and provided with suitable drawingsurfaces, substantially-as specified.

2. The combination of the cap-bars D, having vertical slots, the shaft A, having the square-faced ends a and the saddle-bearing d, the shells B, the pins h, and the shells C, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of the vertically-slotted cap-bars D, the shaft A, having the squarefaced ends a, the shoulders b b c c', and the saddle-bearing d, the shells B, the pins 7i, and the shells C, substantially as specified.

4. The combination of a vertically-movable non-rotatable shaft, bearings for said shaft, vertically movable non rotatable shells mounted on said shaft and capable of vertical oscillation thereon, and tubular draw-rolls mounted rotatably on said shells, substantially as specified.

EDWARD LAFLOE.

XVit-nesses:

DANIEL W. FINK, WARREN R. PERCE.

IOO 

